WITH POLITICAL WILL, PROGRESS IN TRANSNISTRIAN SETTLEMENT IS POSSIBLE, SAYS MOLDOVA'S CHIEF NEGOTIATOR

Moldova's Special Representative for Transnistria negotiations, Deputy Prime Minister for Country Reintegration Gheorghe Balan is convinced that with the presence of political will, it is possible to achieve further progress in Transnistrian conflict settlement.

Speaking at the news conference in Vienna on Tuesday, Balan reminded that on November 25 the chief negotiators of Chisinau and Tiraspol signed 4 protocol decisions on problems of vital importance for the residents of both Dniester/Nistru River sides.

"After so many years, we have managed to advance in resolving concrete problems. All this has become possible thanks to the political will of the Moldova leadership. Step by step, we are approaching to the main issue - a comprehensive settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. We are approaching the preparation of a document on a special legal status for the Transnistrian region. We will be further working in this direction with our negotiation partners", stated Gheorghe Balan.

The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the solutions reached in last weeks.

"We worked quite fruitfully this year. We have held 9 meetings in the format of 1+1 and have approached the adoption of important decisions in the interests of the people living on both Dniester/Nistru River sides. For instance, the opening of the Gura Bicului/Bicioc Bridge has inter alia a symbolic importance, too, for we are restoring bridges between people. And upon the whole, all the above-mentioned decisions - on schools, telecommunications, access to farmlands etc. - have a great importance for the people. We will continue our work in this direction", emphasized Gheorghe Balan.

On November 27-28, Vienna was hosting a two-day round of official negotiations on Transnistrian conflict settlement in the format of 5+2. That was the first official full-size round since April 2014. The past period saw several informal meetings of format participants.